A Promise Kept
by makokashi22
Summary: Inspired by the episode of Pokemon "Do I hear a Ralts" Max returns and keeps his promise to Ralts.Now watch just where that promise takes them as Max enters the Hoenn League.


(After working on the next chapter of my mamodo tournament, I stopped to watch TV. After watching a certain episode of Pokemon I was inspired to write this)

Max started out as a kid, but now an accomplished trainer. He was taller, had smaller glasses, and wore gloves similar to Ash's. He had five pokeballs on his belt, and seven badges in his case. He opened it and took a look at his newly won Mind Badge.

"That was a tough battle" he said to himself "It's a good thing Solrock and Lunatone are part rock type""Gloom and Vigoroth really came through for me"

Max, having a gym leader for a father, was given a choice between one of Prof. Birch's starter pokemon or one of the normal-types that he trained. Max chose a Slakoth that he had basically grown up with. It was tough, but with many battles Slakoth had evolved. And helped him capture the pokemon he had.

He was walking down a road, on his merry way to Sootopolis City. When he stopped and looked up at the sky, and then at his PokeNav.

"It's getting dark, there should be a Pokemon Center near here" he said. He started walking and looked around "I don't know why but this place seems so familiar to me" he thought. His mind drifted back to when he was a kid, traveling around with his sister and her friends. He had a lot of fun watching pokemon battles, meeting different trainers, seeing so many different pokemon. But his thoughts were disturbed by a voice.

"_Max_"

He stopped and looked around. He saw no one, so he continued to walk when the voice rang out again.

"_Max"_

He turned around and once again there was no one behind him. The voice rang out a third time.

"_You promised that you would come back and get me_" the voice said "_You promised me, Max_"

A little scared, he began to walk faster when a familiar voice rang out "Hey Max"

He looked behind him and saw Natasha, his rival.

"Hey Natasha" he said in a disappointed voice. Their relationship was not unlike that of his sister May and a certain effeminate, purple-haired, Cacturne-theme dressed coordinator."What do you want" he asked

"Just to know how many badges you've won" she said smartly "I just came from Mossdeep City and I just won my seventh badge""So how many have you won" she asked smugly

Max matched her grin, opened his badge case and said "Seven"

At first she was shocked, but she twisted her face into an "I don't care" kind of look "That's well enough" she said "Tate and Liza weren't all that strong anyway".She was lying of course, she had only managed to win on pure luck. "So Max, how about a battle" she asked

Max put his hand to his belt "You're on"he said

She pulled a Pokeball off of her belt "Go Skarmory"

The silver bird appeared in a flash of light "Skarrr" it cried out

"A steel type" he thought. Max pulled out a Pokeball of his own "I choose you, Magcargo"

A fiery red snail appeared "Caaargo" it yelled

"Let's get started" Natasha said "Skarmory use Swift"

Skarmory flew in the air and fired a stream of star-shaped rays from its mouth.

"Magcargo defend" he said

Magcargo quickly retracted into its shell. The rays bounced harmlessly off its shell.

"That's an impressive defense" Natasha said "Skarmory, Steel Wing"

Skarmory's wings began to glow brightly and it slammed Magcargo' shell with its wings.

Magcargo was forced out of its shell "Now use Fury Attack"

Skarmory pecked Magcargo an uncountable number of times."Magcargo use Lava Plume"Max shouted. Magcargo blasted a searing hot wave of lava from its mouth directly at Skarmory

"Skarmory, Agility" Natasha said

Skarmory narrowly dodged the Lava Plume and flew behind Magcargo.

"Skarmory, use Flash Cannon"

Skarmory opened its mouth and an orb of silvery-white energy began to form.

"Magcargo, counter with Overheat"

An orb of red-hot energy formed in Magcargo's mouth.

Skarmory fired Flash Cannon and Magcargo fired Overheat. The energy met and exploded on contact. When the smoke rose Natasha shouted "Now use Brave Bird"

Skarmory was enveloped in a bright blue aura and charged toward Magcargo. When Skarmory hit Magcargo, it was thrown backwards, it fainted before it hit the ground.

"It looks like I win" Natasha said "Good job Skarmory" she said stroking its armored head

Max walked up to his fallen pokemon "You did great""Take a rest" he said putting it back in its Pokeball

"You lasted a lot longer than usual" Natasha said glancing at his belt "Why do you only five pokemon with you" she asked "You're allowed to have six"

'I caught a Parasect a few days ago and I wanted decided to send it back home" he answered. He looked up at the slowly darkening sky "So are you headed to the Pokemon Center?"

"Nah" she said "I'm thinking if I keep up this pace and keep moving through the night, I'll reach Sootopolis by tomorrow afternoon"

"If you say so" Max answered. As Natasha began walking away he called out to her "Hey Natasha"

She turned around "Were you calling out to me about some kind of promise?" he asked

"No" she yelled back

He continued on the path to the Pokemon Center "If it wasn't her, then who was it"he thought. In about ten minutes he reached the Pokemon Center. After giving his Pokemon to Nurse Joy she said

"It's good to see you again"

Max gave her a confused look "Don't you remember" she asked "I met you a few years ago when you brought a..."

"Hey" someone called "If there's anyone named Max here, a girl named May is on the phone for you"

Max ran over to the phone and picked it up"Hey Sis" he said "How are you"

"Great" May answered "I met up with Ash and Brock when I was in the Sinnoh region"

"That's great" he said "How were they"

"Ash is still focused on winning the Sinnoh league and Brock is still flirting" May said

"That sounds like them" he said "So what's new?"

"Eevee evolved into Glaceon for one thing"she said "And I caught this cute, little Hippopotas on my way back to Johto"

"Good for you"he said

"Sorry but I'm going to have to cut our conversation short"she said "I need to get some practice with Hippopotas before bed"

"Bye May" Max said

"Bye Max" and taking a leaf from Delia Ketchum's book she said "And don't forget to wear clean underwear"

Max fell over, embarrassed "I hope no one heard that" he thought

**AT NIGHT**

Max laid in bed thinking "What was that voice""If it wasn't Natasha then who could it have been""Who else would have known my name". But the most unnerving thought came last "And why did that voice sound so...familiar"

He continued to think until he thought himself to sleep. And that night he was graced by a pleasant and very relevant dream.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Max stood outside the Pokemon Center, holding the hand of the sick Ralts he had taken there._

_In a flash, A Kirlia and a Gardevoir teleported in front of them._

"_Here's Ralts, just like I said" Max said_

"_Ralts" it chirped in agreement_

"_Voir" Gardevoir said_

"_Kirlia" Kirlia said_

"_You're welcome" Max said "I wanted to help". Tears threatened to fall as he said "Hey I promised, right?" _

_He sadly let go of Ralts hand. "Ralts" it squeaked in a confused voice_

"_Goodbye Ralts" Max said backing away from it "You take care, be good ok" _

"_Ralts"_ _it said_ _sadly "Ralts" it cried out running toward Max and hugging him_

"_Oh Ralts, I love you too" Max said as he began to cry openly at the thought of leaving his new friend_

_He held on to it as the leaves fell "Time to go now" he said_

"_Ralts, Ralts_" _it said shaking its head_

"_I don't want to say goodbye to you either Ralts" Max said "But I don't think we have any other choice"_

"_Ralts" it squeaked sadly_

"_But what do you think about when I'm older?" he asked as more tears fell _"_Maybe you and I could go traveling together"_

"_Ral, Ral" it said in agreement_

"_That's awesome"he said through his tears "So you can plan on me coming back for you someday_

"_Ral, Ral" it said happily_

_His friends and Nurse Joy watched as Max let his friend go. Gardevoir and Kirlia watched the boys' open show of affection._

"_Then it's a deal" he said standing up. He nodded at Gardevoir, who nodded back. It teleported away. It was followed by Kirlia. Who, in turn, was followed by Ralts. _

_Max walked up to the place where Ralts stood. The wind picked up blowing more leaves. In the distance, Max heard the voice of his friend._

"_Ral,Ral"_

_The next sound he heard was a telepathic message from Ralts._

"_Promise me Max""Promise you'll come back and get me"_

"_Promise?" he said. He ran a few more steps and called out "Yes Ralts, I promise""I promise I'll come back for you, I will"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Suddenly, Max snapped up out of bed. He held his hand to his head and thought. "I remember""This was when I met Ralts".The memories came flooding back to him "I promised that I'd come back for Ralts""That's why this place is so familiar to me".

It was as if a light flicked on in his brain "That voice I heard" he thought "The promise...It must have been Ralts""And that means..."

Max leapt out of bed as if he was on fire, he began to rummage through his backpack "Come on, Come on I've got to have at least one left".He stopped when he found a Pokeball "Yes" he cried out.

He ran downstairs and out of the door, straight into the forest. As he ran he thought "I promise that I would come back for it""And I don't care how long it takes, I'm not leaving until I find Ralts"

Max ran frantically through the forest "Ralts" he called out "Ralts, where are you".He searched for at least three hours until he fell to the ground, exhausted."Where could it be" he thought. Suddenly, he heard rustling in the bushes next to him.

"Ralts?" he asked unsurely

At that moment, a very large, very angry looking Shiftry leapt out of the bushes.

Terrified, Max ran as fast as he could, But the Shiftry was close behind.

"I'm sorry for trespassing in your territory" he yelled back at his pursuer.

Shiftry answered by firing a very powerful Bullet Seed at his feet, Max continued to run until he tripped on a tree root. He turned to see Shiftry with a wicked grin on its face. It opened its mouth and fired a Hyper Beam at Max. Too scared to move, Max closed his eyes, and braced for the impact….but it never came. He opened his eyes to see a glowing green energy orb surrounding him.

"This is…Protect" Max thought

When the orb faded, three figures teleported in front of him. Gardevoir, Kirlia and Ralts. Swirling energy formed white spheres around them and pummeled Shiftry.

"Hidden Power" Max said

Shiftry fell to the ground, but then got back up, even angrier than before. Max quickly took advantage of the situation "Pokeball Go". The Pokeball hit Shifty and, in a flash of red light, it was captured. Max looked up at his rescuers, one by one until his eyes came to….

"Ralts?" he asked

Ralts turned around and stared at the boy. "Don't you remember me?" he asked moving closer. Scared, Ralts stepped back, and Kirlia and Gardevoir stepped forward to guard the smallest of their group.

"It doesn't recognize me" he thought. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his glasses case. Opening it, he removed his old glasses, which he kept in case he lost his others. He switched his glasses and said "Ralts, It's me Max".

Ralts continued to stare at the boy, but soon it smiled, ran up to him and hugged him.

"Ralts" he said happily "I came back for you just like I said I would"

Tears began to fall from his eyes, but he brushed them away "I can finally keep my promise to you Ralts" he said pulling away from the hug so he could look Ralts in the face"I'm a trainer now, so you can come with me"

"_Ral, Ral_" it chirped happily

Max's Pokeball floated back to him due to a Confusion attack by Gardevoir "I already used the Pokeball I meant for you to catch Shiftry" Ralts looked up at him with wet eyes "But that doesn't mean anything" Max said "Just that I have two Pokemon now""Ash's Pikachu didn't need to stay in its ball, and neither do you"

"Ral" it said hugging him a second time. It looked back at Kirlia and Gardevoir, who silently nodded at their compainion. They turned and teleported away, but sent Max two telepathic messages.

"_I wish the two of you good luck"_

"_Be good to her"_

"Don't worry" Max called out to them "You can count on me". He turned to Ralts who was sitting comfortably on his shoulder "Ralts, can you use Teleport to get us back to the Pokemon Center?" he asked

With a smile on her face, she nodded and, in a flash, they disappeared.

**The Next Day. **

Max was on the phone, ending a conversation with his father "Bye dad" he said "Take good care of Shiftry, and say hello to Mom for me". He turned to Ralts who was standing next to him, waiting patiently "Let's go" he said. With a happy squeal she jumped on his shoulder. He left the Pokemon Center and walked through the forest until he reached a clearing. He took Ralts off his shoulder "I want you to meet my Pokemon" he said

He threw five Pokeballs in the air, releasing his Pokemon. Vigoroth, Koffing, Magcargo, Gloom, and Ampharos.

"Ralts" Max said "Meet my friends and your new teammates"

Ralts slowly walked up to the group of Pokemon. It was quickly approached by Vigoroth.Ralts stepped back, only to have Vigoroth come closer, looming over it. Vigoroth raised its claw, and quickly brought it down on Ralts' head, stroking it gently. Ralts looked up to see Vigoroth smiling down at it. Ralts smiled back as Vigoroth motioned for the other Pokemon to come closer.

After the Pokemon got acquainted with their new teammate, Max said "Now that that's over with, let's move on to the Sootopolis City for my last badge". He recalled his Pokemon, placed Ralts back on his shoulder, and ran as fast as he could to Sootopolis City.

(Next chapter: Skip forward to Max's next gym battle)


End file.
